Anti-Trust

Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890

· Did not distinguish between “good” trusts and “bad” trusts with its regulations

· Prohibited “combinations in restraint of trade”

· “Bigness” was what was wrong with the trusts, not “badness”

· Although it didn’t mean to, the loose wording of the law allowed it to “curb labor unions…deemed to be restraining trade.”

Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914

· This was the Sherman Anti-Trust Act on steroids.

· Expanded on the Sherman Act’s list of unacceptable business practices to include “price discrimination and interlocking directorates”

· Fixed the problems in the Sherman Act allowing labor unions to be put down, tried to get labor and agricultural organizations out of the law’s reach

· Specifically allowed strikes and peaceful picketing.

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